How will the new tax bill enacted at the end of 2017 affect buyers and sellers? It will do so in a number of ways, but there are three major changes you need to be aware of.

The first is the standard deduction. The new tax bill increases the standard deduction to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for joint filers. Many homeowners may decide to simply take their standard deduction rather than itemizing their deductions.

The second change is the mortgage interest deduction. The new tax bill lowers the cap on deductible debt from $1 million to $750,000. This change doesn’t necessarily apply to people retroactively, so if you obtained your mortgage prior to December 14 of last year, it won’t impact you. Going forward, though, it will impact those who take out new loans. The mortgage interest on second homes will still apply, but that also has been capped at the $750,000 limit.

The third major change is the property tax deduction. The new law limits the property tax deduction for state and local property taxes to $10,000. Prior to this, there was no limit.

To understand more in-depth how the new tax law impacts you personally, we recommend that you contact your tax preparer. if you don’t have a tax preparer, feel free to reach out to us and we’d be happy to refer you to one.

In our next video, we’ll discuss how these tax changes will affect housing prices in Southern California. Until then, if you have any questions or you’re in the market to buy, sell, or invest in real estate, don’t hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email. We’d be happy to help you.

About Tim Majka

The team at Imagine Realty specialize in residential and residential income property throughout Long Beach and the greater Los Angeles and Orange County area. Imagine Realty has over 50 years combined experience in the real estate industry and is ranked in the top 1% of real estate teams in Southern California.

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Tim went far and beyond what I expected from a real estate agent. He drove me around the city and took me to as many places and I needed to see. This was the first property I’ve ever bought in my life so there was nothing he wouldn’t do to make sure it was right. There real...

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Tim went far and beyond what I expected from a real estate agent. He drove me around the city and took me to as many places and I needed to see. This was the first property I’ve ever bought in my life so there was nothing he wouldn’t do to make sure it was right. There really is nothing he wouldn’t do to please his clients!

I’ve worked with Tim on 3 transactions now and we’ve always had fantastic results! He’s just a really good Realtor and a really good guy. He’s always accessible and I really feel like he has my best interests in mind and that’s what’s so commendable. If it’s the right time ...

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I’ve worked with Tim on 3 transactions now and we’ve always had fantastic results! He’s just a really good Realtor and a really good guy. He’s always accessible and I really feel like he has my best interests in mind and that’s what’s so commendable. If it’s the right time to buy he’ll tell you if it’s the right offer or the wrong offer. There’s just something about him and his company where you just trust what they’re telling you. He’s really a guidance counselor, not just a real estate agent.